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22 Feb 2012 11:01

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Politics: Corporate tax rates: Where Obama and the GOP agree, and where they differ

  • 32% the current corporate tax rate in the U.S., which many companies lower by using tax loopholes, leading to an extremely complex tax code
  • 28% the rate Obama wants to lower that too, while closing up many of the loopholes in the process, which might lead some companies to pay more
  • 25% the rate the GOP wants to lower it to; closed loopholes would have to be tempered, though, so companies wouldn’t pay any extra source
  • » Revenue-neutral or revenue-raising? The differing views of how the corporate tax policy should be reformed strike at the heart of differing philosophies the two parties have. Both agree on some basics — they’d like to figure out ways to get multinational companies to create jobs in the U.S., for example. “My message is simple: It’s time to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in America,” Obama said during the State of the Union in January. However, they differ greatly on the ultimate solutions. Do we need to give such big tax breaks to massive oil companies? Democrats say no. Republicans say taxes across the board are too high. We hope they solve this, UFC-style, in “The Octagon.”

03 Feb 2012 17:04

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Biz: Mark Zuckerberg won’t enjoy his tax bill after Facebook goes public

  • $1.5 billion in taxes for the Zuck after Facebook’s IPO source
  • » Why? Zuck plans to sell some of his shares: Back in 2005, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg received a set of new stock options for his company. With said company looking to  go public, Zuckerberg will exercise those shares before the IPO, effectively buying them at the price they were worth back then, and sell them after the IPO, effectively setting himself up for a windfall of nearly $5 billion … and one of the largest tax bills in history. It’s not like he’s gonna be broke, though — in fact, he’ll still be worth $24 billion by the end of it, much of that invested in his company. So hard for him, gotta tell you guys.

21 Oct 2010 15:26

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Biz: Based on their accounting, Google has a new mantra: “Don’t Pay Taxes”

  • 35% the current corporate tax rate in the United States
  • 2.4% the amount Google pays, thanks to fancy accounting source
  • » How do they do it? Well, the search giant uses income-shifting methods referred to by lawyers as the “Double Irish” and the “Dutch Sandwich,” which sound like endlessly fascinating names for avoiding taxes. It involves a lot of money-shifting between various countries – Ireland, Bermuda, The Netherlands. But the end result saved Google $3.1 billion in taxes in the last three years, which probably helps them afford investing in self-driving cars and stuff.